Sweet Dreams
by silvermoon8705
Summary: During the summer after the events of GoF, Remus dreams of a different world where Sirius was really the Secret Keeper for the Potters. Ch. 2: The Dream Guide.
1. Chapter 1

This fic takes place during the summer after the events of Goblet of Fire. So Sirius is still alive. Remus dreams (or maybe more...) of a different world where Sirius was really the Secret Keeper for the Potters.

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters and anything else within the Harry Potter book series are property of JK Rowling, the books' publishers, and Warner Bros. Inc. Any original characters are of my own creation.

The fic starts out with Remus and Sirius at Remus' around the beginning/mid-July. Hope you all like this! It's going to get pretty interesting in the next chapter. And for anyone who is reading Waiting, I'll be posting the next chapter very soon. Watch out for it:)

On to the fic...

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**__**Sweet Dreams**_

"Wake up, Moony! Rise and shine, Moony!"

"Sir…Sirius?" Remus muttered, half awake as the covers were unceremoniously taken out of his grasp.

"The one and only. Now wake up, Remus. There's a letter from Harry. Hedwig came with it earlier this morning. I took the liberty of reading it even though it was addressed to you, which was admittedly a shock since why would Harry send you a letter when I'm his _godfather_. But he didn't send me a thing…not for three whole weeks, and frankly I'm beginning to get a little nervous. It's his birthday, you know, coming up soon. Do you think he's avoiding me?"

"Letter…Harry…wha? Giving me a headache here." Remus placed his hand on his forehead in hopes of soothing his pounding head.

Sirius, clearly not paying any attention to what Remus had said, continued on, "I mean what reason have I given him to avoid me? Haven't I been the model godfather?"

Remus, finally catching on to Sirius's ramblings, put in "You've been in Azkaban for almost his entire life. He hasn't had a chance to uh…appreciate you yet, as you think he should have already."

Sirius was about to reply, but he stopped himself as he thought over Remus's words, and resorted to simply glaring at him.

"And what was this letter from Harry so shockingly addressed to me all about?"

Sirius produced the letter from his right cloak pocket and handed it to Remus.

"He wants a book." He informed Remus dryly.

Remus looked at the letter, and then looked up at Sirius who was still in the room, standing uneasily by Remus's bed.

Remus sighed; he was fairly exhausted after yesterday's excursions, "Is there something else, Sirius?"

Sirius spoke quietly, as if speaking louder would make it worse, "Grimmauld Place in a couple of weeks."

Remus saw a flicker of fear, regret, and something else he couldn't define in Sirius's eyes. Then it was gone.

Sirius continued, with noticeable anger in his tone, "Merlin, Remus. I hate that place."

"I know you do. But it's for the best. For Harry's sake…"

"Yes," Sirius nodded. "For Harry's sake, of course." A pause, and then... "Bloody charmed life I live," He muttered sarcastically under his breath. Before Remus could comment, Sirius was already on his way out of the room and with a, "Go back to sleep, Remus. You look tired," he was gone.

As soon as Remus fell asleep again, a dream took hold of his subconscious.

_A dream, a dream…it was just a dream, then why did it feel so real?_

_Remus found himself in someone's rather large, yet presently unoccupied backyard. He could feel the magic coming off the place as evidence that there were anti-apparation and invisibility – most likely because of the muggles - wards surrounding the house and everything in its immediate environs. Before he could question his surroundings further, he heard feet running toward the door leading to the backyard. And voices, he heard voices…excited voices talking about a Quidditch game…_

"_Vera, you're with Liz, and Stephen's with me. Same as always. Hey, Stephen, want to play Chaser this time?"_

_Remus could see a teenage boy coming outside with a broomstick in his right hand. The boy was followed by a younger boy, and then two girls who looked a little bit older than the younger boy. Remus was amazed at how identical the two girls looked. "They just have to be twins," he mused silently. The older boy had his head turned toward, presumably, Stephen, who Remus saw vigorously shake his head no at his inquiry. After seeing Stephen's nonverbal response, the older boy continued on forward to the miniature Quidditch pitch that was a good walk away. It was quite a big backyard. _

_Remus tried to get a good look at the boy whose voice sounded very familiar, yet there was something very different about it. This boy definitely was the oldest in the family; he had that certain something that set the oldest apart from the younger siblings – a presence of authority and power. He was in control when the parents were not around, and he knew it. Unfortunately, the dream would not allow Remus to get a clear picture of the teenage boy. It was almost as if the dream was trying to hide some vital information from him – at least at that moment._

_The two girls giggled in unison, "You're such a wimp, Stephen." One of them said._

"_No, I'm NOT! Shut up, Liz!" The younger boy pushed one of the girls hard, and she fell to the ground._

"_Harry! Stephen pushed me!" She whined as she got up off of the ground, wincing slightly at the pain from the fall. _

"_Harry? As in Harry Potter?" He thought hopefully. Now that had Remus' full attention. The dream finally allowed him to take a good look at the older boy. _

_And there it was. The same bright green eyes. The same messy black hair that he inherited from James. But there were also notable differences that made Remus more certain than ever that this was not the same Harry he had gotten to know two years ago. The year Sirius escaped…_

_Harry Potter, Remus knew now, glared at his sister. He looked annoyed, and it was clear in his tone that this wasn't the first time he had to deal with his younger sister's complaints._

"_You probably were asking for it, Liz. Next time, can you please stop making trouble before we start the game?"_

"_But it really hurts! Honestly! Here, look!" Liz tried to get on his good side._

"_You're such a sissy!" Stephen called tauntingly before Vera grabbed his hand and took him away._

_Harry went over to his sister, and looked her over._

"_You look fine to me,"_

"_Aw come on. You know I can't play very well if I'm in pain like this!"_

_Harry sighed, "Where does it hurt?"_

_Liz smiled, pleased to have won this time, "Right here. On my thigh,"_

_She pointed to the affected area as Stephen accused furiously from a good distance away, "She's lying!"_

_Harry muttered a healing spell, and, to Remus' surprise, a green flame shot out of his wand immediately after the spell had taken affect. No one except for him paid any attention to the seemingly out-of-place flame. The flame stopped flaring up abruptly as if something was holding it back. The vivid emerald green flame dispersed spectacularly and formed some words._

_H. J. Potter_

_Approved._

_Only a few seconds later, the words looked like they were being absorbed into an invisible barrier surrounding the property. Remus hadn't seen anything like this – not in his reality at least. Was the flame simply there for verification purposes? Why was he the only one who seemed to find this strange? "Maybe it's expected…" he weakly concluded._

"_Wait…Harry looks about 14 here. That means he's underage, and not allowed to perform magic outside of school...but he easily performed the spell without any sort of misgiving about getting into trouble. What is going on here?" Remus contemplated, "It just doesn't make sense to have the Ministry make allowances like this…"_

_Before he could get a bad headache from all the questions he had yet couldn't answer, the dream reclaimed its hold of him. _

_He stared in horror as he saw the little boy, Stephen, fall off of his broom from a hundred feet or so from the ground._

_Harry shot after him, and yelled a spell to slow his brother down – the same emerald flame appeared and formed the same words in the air._

_Remus briefly saw one of the girls flying over to her twin and hitting her behind the head. He had a bad feeling that Liz, who had shown the most ill will toward her younger brother, was the one behind Stephen's fall._

"_How could you! I wish you would just stop doing this!" Vera berated her sister._

Remus could feel someone shaking him, and the dream abruptly came to a stop. He idly wondered if Stephen would be alright, before he heard Sirius talking to him.

"Wake up Moony! You've been sleeping for far too long…"

"I'm up. I'm up. You can stop shaking me now." He answered, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Sirius grinned, satisfied, "Would you mind telling me where that book is?"

Remus looked questioningly at him, "What book?"

Sirius waved his hands around, "The book Harry was asking for! Now, where is it?"

Remus told him. He sighed as Sirius left the room. Another day had begun.

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TBC...I would appreciate any reviews...thanks! 


	2. The Dream Guide

Here's the next chapter. I'm hoping to get more reviews for this fic, but I'll take what I can get. I do have a plan for this fic. It's not going to be very long, but I have several scenes in mind that are going to take place no matter what.

Remus dreams again in this chapter, but I didn't put the dream in italics as I did in the first chapter. I didn't find it necessary.

The fic will definitely have shipping implications in the chapter after this one. If you've read my other stories, you could probably guess the ship.

A/N: There's some swearing in the beginning.

**The Dream Guide**

That night, Remus fell asleep after a particularly exhausting evening. Sirius had, yet again, raided the liquor cabinet and, well, no matter what age he was, he still was pretty rowdy while he was drunk. Remus had come to the decision that maybe he should place stronger wards on the liquor cabinet in the morning. Hopefully then Sirius wouldn't be tempted to 'drink the night away' as it were.

After breaking all the glasses in the kitchen because he thought it made a nice melody and generally causing a raucous in Remus' small home, he finally decided that he had had enough. It was around the early morning hours that Sirius had turned in for the night. Or passed out on his bed, more like.

Remus was about to leave Sirius' room when Sirius moaned and started to say something, "Fuck damnit. Azkaban was a right bitch. And my head hurts…is that window open, Moony?"

"No, it's not. Just go to sleep, Padfoot. Your head will feel better tomorrow."

"Darn right it will. Ugh, that window is open! Why is it so _cold_ in here?"

"You're not in that cell anymore, Sirius. Go to sleep already, will you?" After dealing with this side of Sirius for the past few hours, even Remus, who prided himself on his patience, was feeling as if his patience was slowly thinning out.

"Harry likes me, doesn't he, Remus?" Sirius asked quietly, strangely subdued.

He sighed, and said, "He's your godson. Of course he loves you. And if not, I'm sure James will set him straight."

Sirius smiled, "Yeah, you're right. Prongs will do that. Thanks Remus."

Soon after Sirius had closed his eyes, Remus had left the room.

Once Remus had fallen asleep, a dream overtook his subconscious. He wasn't too surprised that it felt the same as the dream he had earlier that day.

He nearly stepped back in shock though, when a boy, who he now remembered was named Stephen and who was Harry's younger brother in this strange dream, had addressed him. Remus had thought that no one could possibly see him. He was dreaming, after all. It didn't make much sense. Why was this boy talking to him now? Why hadn't anyone last time not attempted to acknowledge his presence? Why now?

Remus halted his thoughts for a moment to see his surroundings. He was in a bedroom, and Stephen was sitting up in his bed, just looking at him. Interestingly enough, the boy seemed to be expecting him. As if the sudden appearance of a middle-aged man in his bedroom was not all that weird.

"Mr. Lupin? Can I call you Remus? That's what I usually call you, in my reality anyway. Hopefully that'll be alright?" Stephen started talking again after a few moments of awkward silence between the two of them.

Remus found his tongue, and said, "Yes, that's fine. May I ask how you can see me? This is only a dream I'm in, isn't it?"

Stephen sighed, "I suppose this is a shock to you, sorry, I forget sometimes. You're dreaming, yes, and I'm your guide. No one but me, and perhaps Sirius Black on a good day, can see you in this dream. You're not allowed – probably incapable anyway – to affect anything or anyone in this dream you're having. This may be just another dream to you, but to me, this is my reality."

Remus just stared at him during his speech. He was dreaming of another reality? Why would he even be dreaming about an alternate reality where Harry had a real family? He wondered if there was some lesson he was supposed to learn through this dream. But what was it? And wait, did the boy just mention Sirius? What was his role in this reality?

"Sorry, did I hear you mention Sirius? Can you tell me where he is?" Remus asked, curious to get answers from his 'dream guide.'

Stephen took a while to answer, but when he did, he couldn't quite look into Remus' eyes.

"I don't think you want to know where Sirius Black is in my reality, Remus. But (after Remus gave him a "Like hell I don't want to know!" look) in due time, you will be able to see him. We do visit him once a week – we try to, anyway. You could see him and, if you're lucky, talk with him like you're doing here with me."

Remus suddenly realized something. Didn't Stephen mention that he knew a Remus Lupin in his reality? He just had to ask what the Remus in Stephen's reality was like.

"You said that there's a Remus Lupin in your reality, too?"

The boy smiled, "Oh yeah. Remus and my dad are still as good friends as ever. Remus visits sometimes over the summer and the holidays. He always has the most interesting stories to tell. He's a spy, you know." He added the last part with a smirk, as if expecting Remus to gasp in astonishment.

Somehow, Remus was able to hold back his reaction, and said, "I'm a what! How in the world did that happen?"

Stephen grinned mischievously, "I don't have to tell you that. And trust me, there are other things you'll find out in this dream of yours that will make it worth your while."

Remus opened his mouth to respond, but just then, the door to the bedroom flung open, and two people walked in. One reluctantly, the other with a resolute and determined look on her face as she pulled the other person along.

Those twins…Liz and Vera, was it? Remus thought. He did seem to remember them quite well from his dream earlier that morning. Surely it wasn't this common to have a recurring dream like this where the dream is so clear that it seems nearly unfathomable that it could be a dream in the first place?

The twin who looked like she was on a mission, was the first to speak. Stephen was restraining himself from laughing out loud at the frustrated look on his sister's Liz's face.

"Elizabeth," She, Remus presumed was the twin named Vera, began, "wanted to apologize for knocking you off your broom. And for generally being a pain toward you. Liz, go ahead." And she pushed her twin sister toward Stephen's bed.

Stephen looked expectantly at his sister.

"I so did not agree to apologize for the 'generally being a pain toward you' part, EM-I-LY!" She accused.

Vera glared, "You know I hate it when people call me by that name! Just get over it, and apologize to Stephen already! For the first part, at least. Or else I'll get Harry to yell at you."

Liz stuck her tongue out at her, "A bit funny, don't ya think? How Harry plays the father, you play the mother, and Stephen and I play the bratty children ("You're the _only _brat in this family!" Stephen cut in, clearly annoyed) in this sad little game of House."

Vera seemed about to burst in sheer frustration, "Will you just apologize, Liz?"

"Alright, since you demanded so nicely," She turned toward her younger brother, and said, "I'm sorry for knocking you off your broom. I'm grateful that you made it out alive."

"This time," He said, "I'll believe your sincerity."

"OKAY. That's good enough for me!" Vera said loudly before her sister could say something sarcastic and regret her words later.

As the twins made their way to leave Stephen's room, the boy whispered urgently to Remus to follow his sisters.

"They're going downstairs. My parents – James and Lily – you should know them I expect? – and my brother are in the kitchen downstairs. If you listen in on the conversation, you may find out some information that may interest you. The dream will direct you when it's time. I'll see you again when necessary."

Remus nodded, and followed the girls out of the room giving a small wave to Stephen as he left.

Stephen looked around his empty room in silent contemplation. Suddenly, he focused his attention onto a figure standing near his desk.

There was a person in his room.

"You don't belong here."

"Who are you? And why can you see me?"

Stephen cocked his head to one side, deep in thought, "You look like someone I know. I'm pretty sure. I wasn't told you would be here. Have you been in this dream before?"

"No, I don't think so. Seriously, who are you?"

"Let's just say if you weren't an orphan, I would be your little brother. I'm not bratty though. Remember that."

He just stared at Stephen in reply.

"Oh, and let's see," Stephen continued. Inside, he was very much enjoying this part of freaking people out just to see their incredulous reactions, "You're dating a girl, but you haven't told mum and dad yet."

"And how old am I here? Wherever this is?"

"Oh _that_. Well, in this reality, you're pretty much the same age you are now. It's just a different or – alternate…whatever you want to call it- reality."

After a few minutes of pregnant silence, Stephen spoke again, "You're welcome to look around, if you like. You may learn something. Or not. It all depends on you really."

"Alright. I'll do that."

And he left the room.

Stephen hummed a tune to himself for lack of anything better to do.


End file.
